• 41% of New Orleans children live in poverty. • Ratio of books in poor neighborhoods: 1 book per 300 children. • Access to books is the most significant barrier to literacy development. (Sources: Census Data; Center for Improvement of Early Reading Achievement)

The third annual Big Wanda Book Giveaway serves as an opportunity for underserved children to take a new book home and discuss the importance of building a disaster plan with their family.

When youth are equipped with first aid skills and basic emergency communication techniques, they help their household become safer and more resilient.[View Photos] or [Download Flyer]

If your school or summer camp would like to receive free books, email us a brief description about how your students are preparing for Hurricane Season.

DATESMarch 18: Crocker Elementary received 50 books; March 26: MLK Charter School received 150 books; April 04: Lafayette Academy received 50 books; May 15: Success Preparatory Academy received 25 books;May 31: Official Summer Kickoff Event: STORM FEST 2014
June 11: Vietnamese Initiatives in Economic Training (VIET) Summer Camp received 125 books;July 11: All Souls Community Center Camp SOAR received 100 books. August 09: Congregations Ready at 2nd St. John Baptist Church received 50 books; August 10: A Community Voice/Xavier Univ. Student Neighborhood Canvass Team received 15 books; August 11: St. Luke Episcopal Church School Fair received 50 books; September 05: Crocker Elementary Library Safety Fair received 50 books; September 06: Backyard Gardeners Network Open House received 15 books; September 20: Baton Rouge Mid City Redevelopment received 50 books;

ABOUT THE BOOKThe Adventures of Happy & Big Wanda, written by Happy Johnson, foreword by Lt. General Russel Honore’ and illustrated by Joe Badon, teaches youth the importance of planning ahead.

It’s a picture book (ages 6-10) about an adopted teen who plays the trumpet for his high school marching band. The protagonist also drives Big Wanda – the name of a rusty old truck fueled by vegetable oil. Driving to a snowball stand before the start of an unexpected storm, Happy and Big Wanda’s perennial preparedness enables them to help their neighbors with disaster supplies made from recycled material.

The interactive book includes a hurricane preparedness checklist, word search, fill-in-the-blank puzzle, coloring pages and safety pledge; it also serves as the curriculum for the THF Youth Preparedness Program which has equipped more than 4,000 youth with basic disaster-readiness skills.

Three months after Hurricane Katrina and the flood wall failures, Team Happy Foundation, formerly Blanket New Orleans, Inc., was on the ground delivering cleaning supplies and essentials to residents. THF has supported each phase of our renaissance, honoring the 1,836 lives lost and fighting for families too often excluded from the process. Today, we have one mission: to inspire the next generation of first responders and wetland scientists.